“History has taught us all that freedoms are never free, but require vigilance and commitment from us who enjoy them,” said Fr. Richard Regan, of St. Joan of Arc Parish, as he delivered the opening prayer at the Evesham Township Veterans Day ceremony and asked those before him to lift up all the men and women who have defended the nation’s freedom.
With Regan’s brief prayer, along with the national anthem sung by Carmen Malatino and a presentation by the Cherokee High School JROTC Color Guard, the crowd gathered at the township municipal building on the sunny Nov. 10 morning honored the men and women of the United States Armed Forces.
Those gathered for the ceremony included members of township council, Assemblyman Christopher J. Brown, members of the police department and fire-rescue, residents and multiple veterans from the township.
The ceremony included a wreath presentation from Operation Yellow Ribbon of South Jersey, the Evesham-based charity that provides welcome-home events and care packages for members of the armed services, and the acknowledgment of several bricks for the township Veterans Walkway on behalf of Edward P. Bergh, Werner Alfred Drechsel and Michael Pilla.
Mayor Randy Brown told the crowd they were there to honor the nation’s heroes, and to remember their achievements, courage and dedication, and to give thanks for their sacrifices.
“Thinking of the heroes who join us today, and those who are here only in spirit, a person can’t help but feel awed by the enormity of what we encounter,” Brown said. “We stand in the midst of patriots and friends who have nobly served. You have made our armed forces the most respected in the world.”
Brown also spoke of how the service members honored on Veterans Day come from all walks of life, but share those same fundamental qualities of “courage, pride, determination, sacrifice, selflessness and a dedication to duty and integrity.”
Brown said those qualities were those needed to serve a cause larger than oneself, both in those who volunteered and those who never asked to leave their homes.
“They didn’t go to war because they love fighting; they were called to be a part of something bigger than themselves,” Brown said. “They were ordinary people who responded in extraordinary ways in extreme times. They rose to the nation’s call because they wanted to protect the nation which has given them and us so much.”
Resident Viki Honeywell attended the event, accompanied by her dog Trevor, an Airedale, wearing a patriotic red white and blue ribbon with his collar.
“I brought him because they used Airedale’s in WWI to carry messages from the trenches, back and forth between the trenches, Honeywell said. “They were mini-heroes, and some of them even had gasmasks.”
Honeywell said her father, Lt. Col. Richard Pindell, served as a Marine during WWII and later spent his career working in United States Army intelligence for more than 20 years.
She attended the ceremony to honor him, and said showing appreciation for those who served their country was important to her father and herself.
“It was important to him…a man of integrity, and a lot of times you don’t see that as much anymore,” Honeywell said. “People like him, they served as a model. He certainly did for us kids.”
